Natarajasana – Lord of the Dance (or dancers pose)
(not-ah-raj-AHS-uh-nuh)
nata = dancer
raja = king
asana – pose
Shiva Nataraja is the Lord of the Dance and this asana is one of the more complicated standing, heart opening and back bending postures in yoga. But, when you build the combination of strength, flexibility and balance you find bliss. Like Shiva you can flow in the dance which signifies the destruction of self-limiting awareness and feel enlightened knowing you can create harmony amidst the energetic relationships of structure and movement.
Come into Natarajasana from Tadasana.
- Ground into one leg and bend the other so that your foot is touching your buttock, and hold the outside of your raised foot with your hand. The top of the standing thighbone draws back, engage your right thigh and knee to ensure your foundation is strong.
- Keep the torso upright, the chest open and draw the pubic bone to the navel to keep length in the lower back. Now on an inhale pushing the raised foot back into the hand, lifting the leg so the thighbone ends up parallel to the floor and the lower leg in a right angle with the thigh bone and vertical with the floor. You can lift your opposite arm straight up and a bit forward to counterbalance. Gaze forward and find your drishti.
- Breathe.